Friday, November 8, 2013

Bizarre Drug War Tale of a Traffic Stop, Anal Search and Hospital Bill

Borderland Beat After failing to come to a complete stop, he stepped into the twilight zone...although the post does not have this information, the victim was stopped twice in four months, and unlawfully detained each time. Read those details in the complaint at bottom. Click on the full screen tool at bottom far right for ease of reading.

A review of medical records,
police reports and a federal lawsuit show deputies with the Hidalgo County
Sheriff's Office, (southern New Mexico), police officers with the City of Deming and medical
professionals at the Gila Regional Medical Center made some questionable
decisions.

The incident began January 2,
2013 after David Eckert finished shopping at the Wal-Mart in Deming.
According to a federal lawsuit, Eckert didn't make a complete stop at a stop
sign coming out of the parking lot and was immediately stopped by law
enforcement.

Eckert's attorney, Shannon
Kennedy, said in an interview with KOB eyewitness news, that after law enforcement asked him to
step out of the vehicle, he appeared to be clenching his buttocks. Law
enforcement thought that was probable cause to suspect that Eckert was hiding narcotics
in his anal cavity. While officers detained Eckert, they secured a search
warrant from a judge that allowed for an anal cavity search.

The lawsuit claims that Deming
Police tried taking Eckert to an emergency room in Deming, but a doctor there
refused to perform the anal cavity search citing it was "unethical."

But physicians at the Gila
Regional Medical Center in Silver City agreed to perform the procedure and a
few hours later, Eckert was admitted.

What Happened

While there, Eckert was subjected
to repeated and humiliating forced medical procedures. A review of
Eckert's medical records, which he released to KOB, and details in the lawsuit
show the following happened:

1. Eckert's abdominal area was
x-rayed; no narcotics were found.

2. Doctors then performed an exam
of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

3. Doctors performed a second
exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

4. Doctors penetrated Eckert's
anus to insert an enema. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of
doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his
stool. No narcotics were found.

5. Doctors penetrated Eckert's
anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in
front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched
his stool. No narcotics were found.

6. Doctors penetrated Eckert's
anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in
front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched
his stool. No narcotics were found.

7. Doctors then x-rayed Eckert
again; no narcotics were found.

8. Doctors prepared Eckert for
surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a
camera was inserted into Eckert's anus, rectum, colon, and large
intestines. No narcotics were found.

Throughout this ordeal, Eckert
protested and never gave doctors at the Gila Regional Medical Center consent to
perform any of these medical procedures.

"If the officers in Hidalgo
County and the City of Deming are seeking warrants for anal cavity searches
based on how they're standing and the warrant allows doctors at the Gila
Hospital of Horrors to go in and do enemas and colonoscopies without consent,
then anyone can be seized and that's why the public needs to know about
this," Kennedy said.

Search Warrant Concerns

There are major concerns about
the way the search warrant was carried out. Kennedy argues that the
search warrant was overly broad and lacked probable cause. But beyond that,
the warrant was only valid in Luna County, where Deming is located. The
Gila Regional Medical Center is in Grant County. That means all of the
medical procedures were performed illegally and the doctors who performed the
procedures did so with no legal basis and no consent from the patient.

In addition, even if the search
warrant was executed in the correct New Mexico county, the warrant expired at
10 p.m. Medical records show the prepping for the colonoscopy started at
1 a.m. the following day, three hours after the warrant expired.

"This is like something out
of a science fiction film, anal probing by government officials and public
employees," Kennedy said.

No Comment

KOB reached out to the attorneys
representing the defendants in the lawsuit and all declined to comment on the
situation. The attorneys said it's their personal policy not comment on
pending litigation.

Another example of our constitutional rights thrown out of the window. I would be surprised if he will be able to keep the cops and the da on the hook. They have qualified immunity and he would have to prove that they acted with actual malice. Unfortunately, the hospital will end up holding the bag. We wonder why medical costs keep skyrocketing.

Orozco,Chavez,Hernandez,latino police officers,at least they did not stick a broken broom handle up his ass,still gave a bad name to Latinos in government,who should unite and show what they think of these assholes...

Oooooooh my God!!!!!!!! The man probably had his undies crunched n & while getting out decided 2 pull them out & that warrants anal explorations, not 2 mention more than a couple & throw n a colon procedure???? This is a prime example of me wishing 2 b n a jury 4 this type of a case. Lessons will b learned the hard way & I hope people r demoted, fired & ordered before a judge/jury 2 explain their lack of judgment & the truama suffered by this innocent man. This reminds me of a saying my father uses "mejor un loco y no dos "n this case wrong after wrong after wrong - todos Locos.

who messed up this report? why are hidalgo county officers blamed for an incident that happened in new mexico? I would be the first to point a finger at crooked officers but in this case somebody missed the ball.

The confusion stems from BOTH counties having a large proportion of corrupt Hispanic government employees...Not that corruption is exclusive to them,it is usually systemic,and endemic,I don't think the unions would have any grounds to defend these assholes...

This is typical of the pig mentality in the gestapo police forces of the United States. Land of the free? Whatever. It's land of the police state. Whenever I see a cop get killed I think, good, another pig down.

Not all of the us police are like that,but I agree,one corrupt officer,is one too many, let alone all the ones involved in this case.I hope this victim takes a whole bunch of money from the public through

As a former New Mexican, I have been following this story closely. A couple of points to add:

1) If you read the pdf of the lawsuit, you can see that one of the officers got miffed when Eckerd asked if he was free to go after the officer said he could leave, but still kept questioning him. The lawsuit alleges that Eckerd questioning the officer was what set this whole chain of events into action.

2) It wasn't just the "clenched buttocks", (which by the way was just that the guy was standing with his legs together as he was being searched initially) that led to the nightmare. A police dog named Leo "supposedly" signaled that a drug smell was found on the seat. However, Leo was out of training for over a year.

3) This same exact scenario happened to another man, I think in the past year, when Leo "signaled" the smell of drugs was on his car seat as well... same treatment, anal searches, same violation of the search warrant by being taken to the other county not covered by the search warrant. Same violation by doctors.

4) Two of the officers at the scene of Eckerd's detention lied and said they knew that he stored drugs in his anus.... which gave probably cause for the cavity search. They blatantly lied knowing what would happen.

5) Throughout Eckerd's entire ordeal, the officers were laughing and mocking his position while the tests were done and they kept leaving the curtain open to the hallway.

Eckerd has suffered PTSD and has been scared to leave his house since this happened.

And, finally, I sincerely hope the cops are jailed for a long time and subjected to many, many, many cavity searches.

This is some sick shit. Just cruise the rural areas of the border in the twilighlight hours with night vision and you will encounter very very very bad guys . Looking up some dudes butthole/keester is not kosher. Go catch the real Mexican Bad Guys !!!!

This guy was a waste of $$$$$$$ time and man hours .They need to focus their eyes ears from not only highways and biways and focus primarily on the rural access areas . Of course they have their orders . Anal humilitation & penetration is not funny . There are plenty of bad guys out there if they really want to find them. they are there. Whats up with all the skinhead dudes ? Reminds me of Pink Floyd Run like hell . Like serious WTF?

"The soldier boy for his soliders payObeys the seargent at arms whatever he says

The seargent will for his seargent's payObey the captain 'til his dying dayThe captain will for his captain's payObey the general order of battle play The generals bow to the governmentObey the charge you must not relent

What of the neighbors and the prophets in bars?What are they saying in the publiz bazaar?We are tired of the tuneYou must not relent

At every stroke of the bell in the tower there goesAnother boy from another side

The bulletins that steady come in say thoseFamiliar words at the top of the hour

The jamming city increases its humAnd those terrible words continue to come

Through bras music of government hear thoseGuns tattoo a roll on the drums

No-one mentions the neighboring warNo one knows what they're fighting forWe are tired of the tuneYou must not relent

-The Clash-

Total respect to all serious good hearted LE stationed across no mans land. There are a lot of good guys and gals protecting the border from trash And I personally salute them. I know they read BB Total Respect !!!

The guy was shopping at Wal-Mart. Who puts stuff up their ass and then goes shopping? I read all the time where the people are paid off by the cities where people are wronged by the police. It will be the tax payers footing the bill. I believe he has sued for 8 million dollars. If he gets $1,000,000 I am heading to Demming and walking like I have something up my ass.

first stop of eckert was on September 6, 2012for a cracked windshield, but the officers said his hands were shaking so they unlawfully detained him for quiet a while before giving him a fix it ticket..

then on January 2, 2013 he rolled a stop. and that was when his nightmare began.

So the same guy is detained without cause twice in FOUR MONTHS?

People have written to me about Mexican traffic cops in NM being assholes against whites and blacks. do you know what race Eckert is?

what I read is that Eckert asked if he was free to leave, and the officer took offense at the question, deeming it "rude" and that caused the first incident.

We can joke about this but it really is horrible. SIX searches, and placed under general anesthesia, damn. Kudos to the physician that refused at the first ER. Have you seen any interviews with that doctor?

I can say 9 out of 10 times when a strange story hits the news, it usually comes from, Florida, Texas or New Mexico.

Total respect for honest hard working guys and gals protecting the border daily and nightly from real satanic trash . You are out there and you are appreciated. You need more help and a military highway that stretches from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to San Diego with hotels and restuarants, landing pads,airports, detention centers, kennels , clinics & refueling stations, barracks to sleep ,Zepplin patrols, and all availiable support at your disposal. God bless you . You are the front line troops . Thanks for your service and sacrifice.

Such a highway would provide civilian jobs to manage to restuarants , cafes, barracks, and road maintenance . Stop the problem in its tracks at the border.

Honestly the police force and most judges in Luna County apply by their own rules. Every single arrest in luna County they do not read you your Miranda rights and they fake alot of reports. And everyone in this town is to worried or scared to fight them so they plead guilty or no contest most of the time. It's not fair and hopefully with this story it'll expose the luna County police station for what it really is a glorified group of gangsters using intimidation tactics to scare the people of luna County

This is a chilling example of police powers gone wrong. I doubt many of You live among the border, and haven't had the experience of commuting through border patrol checkpoints, and task forces just to get to your destination. Your time will come.

I have fought and will continue to fight to defend the constitutional rights and principles of the United States of America. If the cops involved in this crime believe that Mr. Eckert is a scumbag they should have nabbed him lawfully. Their work in this case is not only criminally unconstitutional and cowardly it is counterproductive. It has eroded the people's confidence in those who are appointed to protect us and uphold the law. It also will enrich the very person that these bungling and misguided cops are persecuting. I visit luna count a few times a year and will refuse treatment at the Gila Reginal Med. Ctr. If at all possible as a vote of 'no confidence'. Shame on all of the 'perps' from both sherriffs offices and the GRMC along with their irresponsible administrators. We now have proof that a drug sniffing dog and a dubious 'alert response' can be as bogus as the weak officers who testify to it. I try to laugh at these keystone cops and the rapist doctor but I just.cant feel anything but a gut punch and a feeling of betrayal to the principals set forth in our country's constitution. A jury award should not take in to account the plaintiffs total compensation. Each defendant should have to pay the full amount allowable as if each were fully responsible. They may as well have wiped their mess with the constitution. Jerks!

4:37 one citizen got victimized,by shitbag police officers who should have known better,BB and readers,are condemning the officers,WHO IS THE SHITBAG HERE?a lot of honest police officers are just giving a whole lot of tickets away just to enhance the revenue,that also makes a lot of Americans into offenders,then habitual offenders,but the officers are under orders by their greedy superiors,who want a new police station,the dumbest of the dumb,will pay for it,when taxes won't be increased,money still can be exacted...I am sure even the rolling stop charge was trumped up too...

12:48pm, well said counselor . I usually don't read the long comments on BB ,but yours was interesting from the start .a story like this strikes a nerve to anyone who comes across it .we can only hope that Mr. Ekerts attorney feels the same way,and has to the determination to have all the persons involved held accountable for their crimes ..

Cops just doing their job so they make the rookie look for the cookie, somethings never change. "Officers, today we are expecting a thousand pounds of coke to wheel-in around 2:00 pm. I want our best men and dogs going through every vehicle. Ralph, you and the other new guy work the rubber gloves and check all the walk throughs."

even if the post was wrong...adding the insult does nothing but show your lack of communication skills....but here you go the website for Hidalgo County NEW MEXICO. Do you really think there could only be one? so silly